Golf is going to Disney

by Dominic Chamberlain

Sports Editor

Normally in sports, you go to Disney after you win something,not for the Griffs golf. The golf team is heading to the happiest place on earth to have a chance at winning a championship.

The championship in question is the Metro Athletic Atlantic Conference Championships and the team isn’t coming off the best result heading into the tournament. The team finished 12 out 12 teams at the Rutherford Intercollegiate tournament at Penn State College.

It wasn’t all bad for the Griffs, the top Griff was Hunter Sagar who finished the tournament 16 over par, and tied for 36. A solid finish overall and if the Griffs can see more numbers like this as the MAAC Championship kicks off this weekend, the Griffs could win the MAAC Championship.

Our golf program has never been able to win the MAAC Championship and last year the team finished seventh. We have never really flexed any kind of muscle in terms of being a powerhouse in MAAC golf with our school’s best finish since 1997 in the MAAC Championships being third in 2013. We aren’t too far removed from that success and while third isn’t a bad finish per se, it doesn’t bring home a trophy.

That all has potential to change when the tournament kicks off on Disney’s Magnolia golf course. While there hasn’t been much success in recent tournaments, the team has won a championship this season when they won the Little Three Golf Championship back in September. Who participated in that tournament? Niagara. The Griffs beat the Purple Eagles by 13 strokes en-route to the championship. The Purple Eagles will be down for the tournament in Disney too, so that should give the Griffs some confidence going in.

Now the only way to win the championship is through the team score but as you may be aware, golf is an individual sport; no teammate to rely on, nobody to take that final shot, no plays to run, no subs if you aren’t performing well. It all comes down to what you can do personally and your results add to your team’s results. It makes for an interesting dynamic but that’s the way you win a team championship in an individual sport.

If the Griffs can be successful, it gives them an automatic bid into the 2015 Division I Men’s Golf Tournament and to touch on the interesting dynamic I just mentioned the lowest individual score will also head to the Division I Tournament. The Griffs don’t need a miracle in Disney, they know they can win, and if they do win the first golf MAAC championship in school history, they won’t have to go anywhere; they will already be the happiest people in the happiest place on earth.